My Grandfather Clock

By Sheryl Watts, Pike Primary Principal

As a little girl, it was always a dream of mine to have a grandfather clock. Grandfather clocks are a symbol of strength, precision, wisdom and longevity.  As an adult, I received a grandfather clock as a 10^th Anniversary gift.  I often find myself mesmerized by the quiet tone of the pendulum swinging back and forth, the chimes ringing on the hour and half hour, and the beautiful skeleton key used to open it.   As I looked at my grandfather clock last evening, I found it interesting the similarities between this ornate heirloom that will eventually be passed from generation to generation and the little minds we shape each day that will eventually share the importance of education with their own children.

The tick-tock rhythm of the clock signals a daily effort to ensure Learning For All- the pendulum swinging back and forth, producing a melodic movement as the hands move around the clock each hour-graduation nearing with each chime.  The cogs represent the dedicated professionals, ensuring students are being exposed to quality instruction, but sometimes despite the intricate synchronicity the cogs provide, the clock slows; and, perhaps, even stops. 

As the old grandfather clock needs occasional maintenance, so do our students.   The clock, from time to time, needs to be opened, wound, and the pendulum put back into motion.  Once complete, the hands might need a gentle nudge back in place showing the correct time.  Students simply need to be reset.

Consider the clock that has stopped to be the struggling student.  The student may need something extra or different to keep correct time, and that may just be recalibrating to a positive academic mindset.  Katrina Schwartz wrote in “Beyond Knowing Facts, How Do We Get to a Deeper Level of Learning” that in order to develop a positive academic mindset, there are four key beliefs a student must hold:

·         I can change my intelligence and abilities through effort;

·         I can succeed;

·         I belong in this learning community;

·         This work has value and purpose for me.

 

This positive academic mindset occurs when that clock is opened, wound, and reset.  It takes a little extra time and effort, but the end result is a beautifully crafted instrument, a collaborative effort between teacher and student. Students need an environment to learn that allows them to take risks, make mistakes, and communicate their learning.  The feedback given to them is a celebration of success.  For some, the success is measured by promotion to the next grade.  On that clock, each hour is marked by chimes to denote the hour.  And, at 12 o’clock, graduation time…let the chimes begin!

Tackling Common Core

By:  Michael Duncan, Superintendent

 I have been asked many times about my opinion of the Common Core. My answer is usually guarded because the question is typically asked by those with hyper-partisan views who get their talking points from talk radio, but, honestly, I don’t have a big problem with it.  Common Core is much more rigorous, requiring greater levels of critical thinking, so from this perspective, it is a better curriculum. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot.  It’s too broad. Critics have argued it would take more than 20 years to teach the Common Core to deep levels of understanding; that is, the ability to apply knowledge and skills independently to real-life situations and solve real-world problems.

Recognizing the need to increase the level of rigor and develop 21^st Century Skills (critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration), we must find time to focus on depth of learning, not just coverage.  To this end, we are working to identify the most impactful curriculum standards and eliminate redundancy.  Our goal is to align the Common Core from kindergarten to twelfth grade, reducing the curriculum, hopefully, by 40%.  This will afford teachers and students the time to engage truly authentic intellectual work which require 21^st Century Skills.  The impact will be significant-more reading, more writing, and more thinking.  It’s really that simple.

The challenges ahead are clear:  creating processes whereby teachers can do the intellectually heavy lifting of evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum and instructional practices in light of student achievement data; investing in high quality textbooks (Yes, I said textbooks); and maintaining a laser-like focus on professional development in 21^st Century Skills.

What does this look like for students?  I know this is profound, but hang in there with me:  More reading, more writing, more thinking.